Men Quotes by Samuel Smiles

Opportunities ... fall in the way of every man who is resolved to take advantage of them.

— Samuel Smiles

To set a lofty example is the richest bequest a man can leave behind.

— Samuel Smiles

Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes imitation of them in a greater or less degree.

— Samuel Smiles

Great men stamp their mind upon their age and nation.

— Samuel Smiles

Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.

— Samuel Smiles

Obedience, submission, discipline, courage--these are among the characteristics which make a man.

— Samuel Smiles

The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to follow him.

— Samuel Smiles

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book.

— Samuel Smiles

Courage is by no means incompatible with tenderness. On the contrary, gentleness and tenderness have been found to characterize the men, no…

— Samuel Smiles

For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making.

— Samuel Smiles

Great men are always exceptional men; and greatness itself is but comparative. Indeed, the range of most men in life is so…

— Samuel Smiles

Men whose acts are at variance with their words command no respect, and what they say has but little weight.

— Samuel Smiles

It is observed at sea that men are never so much disposed to grumble and mutiny as when least employed. Hence an…

— Samuel Smiles

The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen…

— Samuel Smiles

The highest culture is not obtained from the teacher when at school or college, so much as by our ever diligent self-education…

— Samuel Smiles

The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have…

— Samuel Smiles

Thus the brave and aspiring life of one man lights a flame in the minds of others of like faculties and impulse;…

— Samuel Smiles

Nothing is more common than energy in money-making, quite independent of any higher object than its accumulation. A man who devotes himself…

— Samuel Smiles

I see nothing quite conclusive in the art of temporal government, But violence, duplicity and frequent malversation. King rules or barons rule:…

— Samuel Smiles

It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in…

— Samuel Smiles

Fortune has often been blamed for her blindness; but fortune is not so blind as men are. Those who look into practical…

— Samuel Smiles

Experience serves to prove that the worth and strength of a state depend far less upon the form of its institutions than…

— Samuel Smiles

The path of success in business is invariably the path of common-sense. Nothwithstanding all that is said about "lucky hits," the best…

— Samuel Smiles

Whatever is done for men takes away from the stimulus and necessity of doing things for themselves. The value of legislative as…

— Samuel Smiles

England was nothing, compared to continental nations until she had become commercial... until about the middle of the last century, when a…

— Samuel Smiles

Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking…

— Samuel Smiles

“Many are the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully influenced civilization and progress as the more fortunate Great whose…

— Samuel Smiles

The crown and glory of life is character. It is the noblest possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and…

— Samuel Smiles

Energy of will may be defined to be the very central power of character in a man.

— Samuel Smiles

The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.

— Samuel Smiles

All that is great in man comes through work; and civilization is its product.

— Samuel Smiles

Like men, nations are purified and strengthened by trials.

— Samuel Smiles

Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.

— Samuel Smiles

The career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but his thoughts and…

— Samuel Smiles

All life is a struggle… Under competition the lazy man is put under the necessity of exerting himself; and if he will…

— Samuel Smiles

Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be…

— Samuel Smiles

The great lesson of biography is to show what man can be and do at his best. A noble life put fairly…

— Samuel Smiles

Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the very nature of things…

— Samuel Smiles

Woman, above all other educators, educates humanly. Man is the brain, but woman is the heart, of humanity.

— Samuel Smiles

The great leader attracts to himself men of kindred character, drawing them towards him as the loadstone draws iron.

— Samuel Smiles